Locating pin



Jan. 27,1942. F. A. oDnlE 2,271,399

LOGATING PIN Filed Feb. 15, 1941 Inventai- F. L\.ODD\E A Harney Patented Jan. 27, 1942 Frednlbert odaie, Southampton, England, assignor to Oddie Lock Nuts' Limited, Southampton, England, a company of Great Britain Application February 13, 1941, Serial No. 378,837 In Great Britain January 16, 1940 f 9 Claims.

This invention relates Ato locating pins or the like more particularly for temporarily holding perforated plates prior to and during the process of securing them in a permanent manner as by rivets or the like. The object of the invention is to provide an improvement in the known type of locating pin which is formed from a` single length of spring wire or strip bent toform a loop to serve as a handle and provided with straight end portions, preferably 'ofl semi-circular crosssection, with their flat inner surfaces in contact and adapted to slide relatively to one another in a longitudinal direction when the loop is compressed. Hitherto the end of one straight end portion has been provided. with an offset head having a flat surface to engage the under face of the work and a sleeve has Asurrounded both straight portions to act as a guide and form a shoulder to engage the upper face of the work which is thus gripped between the head and the shoulder when the loop is released after the pin has been inserted.

According to this invention one end of the straight portion is slightly upturned to forma hook or nose to engage the'under face of thevvorkv and this enables the pin to be inserted or removed" after compressing the loop more readily than hitherto, since the pin need not be maintained perpendicular to the openings in the work while being so inserted or withdrawn. The straight portions of the pin are provided with a guide com'- prising a coil of relatively thin wire and this coil is of suiciently large diameter for the hooked end to slide within it. One end of this coil can be readily anchored to a bent portion of the pin and the opposite end of the coil is iattened to4 serve as a stop which directly engages the face of the work and limits the downward movement of the pin. The bent portion of the pin preferably comprises two or more loops which lie in the plane of the pin and provideV the necessary spring to draw the hooked end upwards against the stop formed by the lower end of the wire coil. 1f, however, this coil is looselywound, it may also constitute a spring which is compressed when its lower end directly engages the upper surface of the work.

Preferably one of the straight portions, conveniently that which has its end upturned, is provided with a cutting edge so that if the pin is rotated after being inserted in the work, it can act as a reamer and the hook or nose may also be provided with a cutting edge upon its inclined upper surface so that when the whole pin is turned, this edge will form ar countersunk recess ,tion is shown by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, prior to the application of the pin to the work;

Figure 2 is asimilar View showing the relative position of the ends of the pin during the act oi insertion into or withdrawal from perforations in the work;

Figure 3 is an elevation showing the pin in engagement with the work;

Figure 4 is a cross-section on an enlarged scale on the line IV-IV of Figure 1;

Figure 5 shows in detail, on an enlarged scale, the upturned end in side elevation; and

Figure 6 is a section on the line VI-VI of Figure 5.

The drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense so far as details of mechanical construction are concerned.

In the construction shown the pin is made from a convenient length of spring wire of halfround cross-section. The pin includes one straight limb A, the upper end of which is' bent into a bow or main loop B, forming a handle by which the pin can be grasped, and in addition to and below the main loop B are two subsidiary loops BI, B2 which lie in the plane of the pin and terminate in a second straight portion C which lies parallel to the first straight portion A with the nat surfaces of these two straight portions in contact. The lower end of the straight limb A is upturned to form a hook at Al and the extremity of the other limb is pointed at Cl Surrounding the straight portion C and the adjacentl part of the limb A is a closely coiled wire guide D, the upper end DI of which is anchored to the lowest lloop B2 Whilst the lower end of the coil is flattened so that it can be brought squarely into direct engagement with the upper face of the work. The coil is of sufficient diameter for the hooked end to slide within it and this enables the coil to be easily secured to the pin after the latter is completely formed.

Normally the hooked end Al lies withinr the guide coil C as shown inFigure l. When the pin is to be applied to the work or withdrawn therefrom the coils B,B|, B2 are compressed with the result that the flat surfaces of the straight limbs slide relatively to one another so that the hooked end AI extends below the point CI to an extent equal to the width of the two superimposed periorated plates E and Fowhich are to be subsequently riveted together. The hook is so formed that it can pass through the holes in the plates when the straight limb C, Cl is in the position shown in Figure 2. As soon as the hooked end has passed through both holes, pressure on the loops B, Bl, B2 is released, whereupon the pointed end Cl forces the whole pin into the position shown in Figure 3 in which the two straight limbs engage the perforations and hold the two plates together. Hence, the hook Al engages the under surface of the plate F, the lower end of the coil D forms a stop which directly engages the upper surface of the plate E, and thus the two plates are firmly lockedtogether whilst similar perforations in the plates are being riveted together. The coil D is shown as being formed of spring wire and capable of being compressed when its lower end engages the face of the work. The coil can, however, be more closely wound so as to form an incompressible sleeve if desired. In either case it acts as a stop in opposition to the spring loops B, BI, and B2 which tend to draw the hooked end AI in an upward direction. Thus the two plates are rmly clamped together by means of the pin.

One portion A2 of the straight limb A is pro vided with a cutting edge so that the pin can act as a reamer if rotated after insertion in the work. In a similar way the edge A3 of the upturned end adjacent to the cutting edge A2 may be formed as a cutter so that when the pin is rotated the hole in the lower plate is slightly countersunk. As the upturned end is in the form of a hook, it is easy to insert or withdrawA the pin which need not be maintained perpendicular to the surface of the work during either of these operations.

Locating pins formed in accordance with the present invention are suitable for use with rivets up to half an inch in diameter and without modication except in the diameter of the wire used in their manufacture can be employed for apertures oi very much smaller diameter. The pins can be formed from wire which is of round or iiattened cross-section, in which case the end portions are treated so that they assume a semicircular cross-section in the completed article.

The invention can loe used for locating pins or temporary holding devices for use in apertures which are not of circular shape, e. g. for rectangular siots or 'slots with rounded ends and straight sides, in which case the crosssection of the ends is correspondingly modified.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A locating pin comprising a single length of spring wire bent to form a loop so as to serve as a handle and provided with straight end portions with adjacent at inner surfaces in contact with one another and adapted to slide relatively to one another in a longitudinal direction when the loop is compressed, one oi the straight portions having an upturned end to form a hook adapted to engage the under face oi the work, the other straight portion terminating in a point, and a relatively thin wire coil of surliciently large diameter for the hooked end to slide within it surrounding the straight portions of the pin and forming a stop which directly engages the upper face of the work and limits the downward movement of the pin.

2. A locating pin comprising a single length of spring wire of semi-circular cross-section bent to form a loop so as to serve as a handle 'and provided with straight end portions with adjacent flat inner surfaces in contact with one another and adapted to slide relatively to one another in a longitudinal direction when the loop is compressed, one of the straight portions having an upturned end to form a hook adapted to engage the under face of the work, the other straight portion terminating in a point, and a relatively thin wire coil surrounding the straight portions of the pin and forming a stop which directly engages the lupper face of the work and limits the downward movement of the pin, one of the straight portions being provided with a cutting edge so as to act as a reamer when the pin is rotated after being inserted in the work.

3. A locating pin comprising a single length of spring wire of semi-circular cross-section bent to form a loop so as to serve as a handle and provided with straight end portions with adjacent at inner surfaces in contact with one another and adapted to slide relatively to one another in a longitudinal direction when the loop is compressed, one of the straight portions having an upturned end to form a hook adapted to engage the under face of the work, the other straight portion terminating in a point, and a relatively thin wire coil surrounding the straight portions of the pin and forming a stop which directly engages the upper face of the work and limits the downward movement of the pin, the

hooked end being provided with a ,cutting edgev upon its upper surface so that when the pin is rotated this cutting edge will form a countersunk recess in the under surface of the work.

4. A locating pin as claimed in claim 1, in which the bent portion of the pin comprises two or more loops which lie in the plane of the pin, the lowest loop serving as a support to which the upper end of the thin wire coil is anchored.

5. A locating pin as claimed in claim l, in which the thin wire coil constitutes a guide for the sliding portions of the pin, a stop to engage the upper surface of the Work, and a spring which acts in opposition to the bent yportion of the pin and tends to draw upwards the hooked end of the pin.

6. A locating pin comprising a single length of spring wire and including straight end portions of similar cross-section with their inner surfaces in contact with one another, one straight portion having an upturned end to engage the under surface ofthe work, and an intermediate portion so bent that when it is compressed one straight portion can slide in a longitudinal direction relatively to the other straight portion, one of the straight portions being provided with a cutting edge so as to act as a reamer when the pin is rotated after being inserted in the work.

'7. A locating pin comprising a single length of spring wire and including straight end portions of similar cross-section with their inner surfaces in contact with one another, one straight portion having an upturned end to engage the under surface of the work, and an rintermediate portion so bent that when it is compressed one straight portion can slide in a longitudinal direction relatively to the other straight portion, said upturned end being provided with a cutting edge upon its upper surface so that when the lpin is rotated this cutting edge will form a countersunk recess in the under surface of the work.

8. A locating pin comprising a single length of spring wire and including straight end portions of semi-circular cross-section with 'their inner surfaces in Contact with one another, one of the straight portions having an upturned end to engage the under surface of the Work, the other straight portion terminating in a point, an intermediate portion including a number of loops adapted when Icompressed to cause one end portion to slide in a longitudinal direction relatively to the other end portion, and a guide in the form of an oiled spring surrounding the straight portions, said coil having its upper end connected to one of the loops and its ylower end formed square to engage the upper surface of the work and adapted to be compressed thereby and thus to act in opposition to the bentportion of the pin which tends to draw upwards the upturned end of the pin, at least one of said straight portions of the pin being formed as a cutter to act as a reamer when the pin is rotated 9. A locating pin comprising a single length of spring wire and including straight end portions of semi-circular cross-section with their inner surfaces in contact with one another, one of the straight portions having an upturned end to engage the undersurface of the work, the other straight portion terminating in a point, an inter' rmediate portion including a number of loops of the pin, said upturned end of the pin being c provided on its upper surface with-a cutting edge so that when the pin is rotated this edge will form a countersunk recess in the under surface of the work.

FRED ALBERT ODDIE. 

